Custom web design costs

Written by Allen Jezouit on February 3, 2016

During our near-daily search for web design news, we came across this article about custom web design costs. Typically we include articles in this blog whose opinion we agree with. In this case, we have an issue with a few things the author says about custom web design costs. However, the article is really well written and provides us with an opportunity to contrast our opinion with the author’s, so we’ve included it here.

Blog Post about Custom Web Design Costs from Businesss2Community.com

“We get this question every day:“How much does a new website cost?” But it’s impossible to have just one answer. Websites aren’t like pencils or hammers. Each site is handcrafted according to a business’s unique needs. Some clients just want a platform to publish content; others need back-end portals and e-commerce; still others need to attract key decision makers for complex contracts and sales. No two are ever the same.

What we can tell you is that to build a website in a content management system (CMS) and make it totally responsive takes between 100-150 hoursfor the average small site. (Under 40 pages with minor animations, no back end or commerce) Responsiveness is a key factor. Mobile, tablet and desktop versions are designed and coded into one fluid experience, and the site is tested in 4 modern browsers with 3 versions each. Sound complex? It is!”

Where do we disagree?

To us, 100-150 hours sounds high unless the author is including writing and editing of all of the content. If we’re designing and building the structure of a website using WordPress and our client is responsible for the content, the time involved is more in the 40-60 hour range.

We are also a fan of fixed price projects. The author’s assumption that the potential outcomes of a fixed price project are either a) a contractor who disappears or b) a bad site is simply not true. We design and build great WordPress websites on a fixed price basis all of the time. We’ve been estimating web projects since 2009 so we know how to estimate time required correctly. More importantly, we’re 100% serious when we say that we approach each project as an opportunity to earn a referral and to add another project to our public portfolio. We hold ourselves to the standard of building websites that we can be proud of while providing great customer service. It’s possible to do that on a fixed price basis.